Practice baseball bat



Aug. 23, 1966 J. MARTINO PRACTICE BASEBALL BAT Original Filed June 1, 1962 United States Patent 3,268,226 PRACTICE BASEBALL BAT Joseph Martino, 20 La Guardia Ave., Staten Island, NY. Continuation of application Ser. No. 199,410, June 1, 1962. This application Nov. 24, 1964, Ser. No. 415,852 2 Claims. (Cl. 273-26) This application is a continuation of my application Serial No. 199,410, now abandoned.

The present invention relates to a practice baseball bat, learning aid and game apparatus.

The average baseball bat is approximately 35 inches long, having a generally cylindrical body tapering 01f to a handle. The roundness of the bat imposes a burden of great skill upon the batter to get a square hit of a pitched ball, which may travel well in fair territory.

The round baseball which is approximately three inches in diameter must come in contact with a properly swung bat within a small area of approximately a bit more than two baseball diameters extending longitudinally from the handle along the bat length at the center of the bat from a point starting approximately two thirds of the way down the bat from the handle.

While hits are obtainable on the other parts of the bat, the optimum control of the ball, leverage of the swing, power, flight, trajectory and speed of the ball are generally obtained by a ball being hit in this area by a properly swung bat.

A sharp contrast to the problems involved in baseball batting is found in English cricket where a flat striking surface bat is used, providing a much larger hitting surface available for control of the flight of a round ball once hit.

One of the purposes of the present invention is to provide a bat able to simulate actual baseball batting with a moving ball which promotes a straight even swing. It is difficult or impossible to have a pitched baseball enter the opening of a bat of the present invention when the swing is chopped, golfed or twisted.

According to the present invention a practice baseball bat, learning aid and game apparatus is provided with an opening large enough to accommodate a ball and either catch or slow down its progress, thus allowing the user to know when a proper swing has been obtained and to be able to practice for the hit.

The bat of the present invention is further useful in large cities where space is limited since it is oftentimes diflicult to find a large enough area for batting practice. With the present invention the distance for ball chasing is generally diminished in that the hit ball is usually captured or slowed and the non-squarely hit balls tend not to travel a great distance.

While the hat of the present invention may be made of conventional wood, bats of metal, such as magnesium, or aluminum or plastic are most particularly adaptable for the purposes of the present invention, enabling reinforcement at the elongated opening in the bat, which necessarily has to be wider than the usual diameter of the baseball bat for clearance. Use of a plastic bat with plastic balls, of regulation size, is particularly advantageous in limited city areas. The muscular movement and coordination required to properly strike a ball are the same, while the actual travel of any ball which is not captured or slowed is distinctly limited. Of course, regulation baseballs and bats of the same weight as a regulation bat may be employed.

Although such novel features as are believed to be characteristics of the invention are pointed out in the claims, the invention and the manner in which it may be carried out may be further understood by reference to the description following and the accompanying drawings.

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FIGURE 1 is a horizontal front elevation of a conventional bat of the prior art.

FIGURE la is an end view of the bat of FIGURE 1.

FIGURE 2 is a horizontal front elevation of a hat of the present invention.

FIGURE 2a is an end view of the bat of FIGURE 2.

FIGURE 3 is a horizontal front elevation of an alternative bat of the present invention.

FIGURE 4 is a picture of a bat of the present invention being used for a light swing at a hollow plastic ball.

FIGURE 5 is a view of the bat of the present invention in a heavy swing at a conventional baseball.

Referring now to the figures in greater detail, where like reference numbers denote like parts in the various figures.

The bat 1 of the present invention, as shown in FIG- URES 2 through 5, is substantially the shape of a conventional hat 2 as shown in FIGURES 1 and 1a. An elongated opening 3 is provided starting approximately two thirds down the length of the bat from the handle. The opening 3 is dimensioned to give clearance tothe diameter of a standard baseball along an imaginary line 4 through the center of the bat 1 extending the length of the optimum striking zone 5, approximately two and a half baseball diameters along the length of the bat, from which most effective hits are obtained when the bat connects squarely with a ball.

A bat properly swung at a pitched ball, as shown in FIGURES 4 and 5, will catch the ball within the opening 3 which passes through the thickness of the bat 1.

Attached to the opening 3 is a net 6, usually a tapered openwork bag as shown in FIGURES 2, 2a and 5, which tapers to a flexible opening 7 just slightly smaller than a baseball diameter. Thus when a ball enters the opening 3 its speed is slowed, yet the ball is permitted to pass through the net as a basketball might pass through a basketball net.

In FIGURES 3 and 4 the bat includes a net 6a surrounding the opening 3 which has no opening 7, whereby a properly swung at ball will be caught rather than pass through the net 3.

Where the bat 1 is made of plastic it may be convenient to have the opening 3 pass through the thickness of the hat 1 as a sheath 12 as can be seen in FIGURE 2a with the net 6, 6a attached at the end of the sheath 12. Where bats are made of wood, it may be necessary to provide a strong wire frame instead of a sheath 12 extending from the lower part 8 of the bat 1, defining the opening 3 and joined at 9 to the bat 1 beyond the opening 3 with the net 6, 6a extending from the frame.

Where a plastic ball 10 is used, as shown in FIGURE 4, it may be more convenient to use a net 6a without an opening 7 so that the properly hit pitched ball can be caught. Where a regulation baseball is used as shown in FIGURE 5, the weight of the ball generally makes it advisable to use a net 6 with an opening 7 so, that the progress in flight of the ball 11 is slowed, rather than having the ball caught.

The terms and expressions which are employed are used as terms of description, and it is recognized that various modifications are possible within the scope of the invention claimed.

Having thus described one form of the invention, what is claimed is:

1. A practice baseball bat having a round tapered handle, a substantially cylindrical body including an end length, said end length having a strike zone, said cylindrical body having a diameter greater than said handle, a lateral opening passing through said body along the strike zone of said bat and extending part Way from the end length to the handle, the location of said strike zone O defining the desired hitting area of said bat, the Width and length of said lateral opening being adapted to permit the passage of a ball, an open-work bag means, said bag means attached to said lateral opening, said bag means being tapered and open at the free end.

2. A practice baseball bat having a round tapered handle, a substantially cylindrical body including an end length, said end length having a strike zone, said cylindrical body having a diameter greater than said handle, a lateral opening passing through said body along the strike zone of said bat and extending part way from the end length to the handle, the location of said strike zone defining the desired hitting area of said bat, the width and length of said lateral opening being adapted to permit means attached to said lateral opening, said bag means being closed at the free end.

References Cited by the Examiner DELBERT B. LOWE, Primary Examiner.

F. BARRY SHAY, RICHARD C. PINKHAM,

Examiners.

the passage of a ball, an openwork bag means, said bag 15 LEONARD Assistant Examiner 

1. A PRACTICE BASEBALL BAT HAVING A ROUND TAPERED HANDLE, A SUBTANTIALLY CYLINDRICAL BODY INCLUDING AN END LENGTH, SAID END LENGTH HAVING A STRIKE ZONE, SAID CYLINDRICAL BODY HAVING A DIAMETER GREATER THAN SAID HANDLE, A LATERAL OPENING PASSING THROUGH SAID BODY ALONG THE STRIKE ZONE OF SAID BAT AND EXTENDING PART WAY FROM THE END LENGTH OF THE HANDLE, THE LOCATION OF SAID STRIKE ZONE DEFINING THE DESIRED HITTING AREA OF SAID BAT, THE WIDTH AND LENGTH OF SAID LATERAL OPENING BEING ADAPTED TO PERMIT THE PASSAGE OF A BALL, AN OPEN-WORK BAG MEANS, SAID BAG MEANS ATTACHED TO SAID LATERAL OPENING, SAID BAG MEANS BEING TAPERED AND OPEN AT THE FREE END. 